001Go ahead and call the regular meeting of the board of education for Martinez Unified School District to order. It's January 12th, 2026 and it's 5:30. Do we have any public comments related to close session? There are no public comments for close session. Then we will adjourn to close session. is 6:55. Uh let's see. I have two items to report out from close session. One is on motion of member Logan Campbell, seconded by member Annie Horic Martin. The board in close session voted 50-0 to approve a confidential settlement agreement in the matter Martinez Unified School District versus student 8980677652 to resolve a special education dispute and demand for certain educationally related costs including attorney's fees where the district received waiverss and releases of claims in exchange. And then also in closed session, the board considered the
002recommendation for readmission for student number 2024-25-10. Um, and it was uh the motion was made by Logan Campbell, Logan Campbell, and it was seconded by Corton Masala O'Brien and um all five board members said I. Next, U. Matthew, will you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible. Okay. Do we have any changes to the agenda? >> There are no changes to the agenda. Okay. Do I have a motion? >> Make a motion to approve the agenda. >> Second. >> Student rep. >> I. >> All those in favor? >> I. So moved. Next we have highlights and recognition. Um Dr. Patrick, do you want to go ahead and introduce? >> Uh yes. I'm not sure if
003they are here, but we Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Great. All right. We have the VMHS Psychology Club. Let's come on up. >> Hi. Thank you all. I'm Amy Burner, the mental health counselor at Vicente High School, and I'm joined by Camala, Maddie, Taylor, and Lydia. And we have just a short overview of what we've been up to this year and highlights reel from our podcast. So, I'm going to turn it over to our students. >> Hello. Okay. Anxiety, coping strategies, and access to mental health, and crisis support are real issues students face every day, and they are just a few of the topics we explore in psychology club at Vicente High School. Psychology Club is a student group focused on mental health, awareness, education, and connection. We are currently we currently have 10 members who
004regularly learn about mental health, discuss topics that matter to teens and educate our peers. One of our biggest projects is our studentcreated mental health podcast which is our which is in our fifth season and has over 100 episodes and more than 200 subscribers. Students create peer-to-peer content that help reduce stigma around mental health and normalize help seeking and connect teens to school and community resources. We interview e experts on topics that matter to students. This year alone, we have interviewed experts on topics including anxiety, immigrant mental health, cannabis addiction, coping strategy strategies, crisis hotlines, and statewide in initiatives on young youth health mental health. We also put on fun events to help people learn more about the mental health and coping strategies. In December, we came to the district office and had a winter winter
005wellness popup event where we we shared essential oil pendants. be made along with self-care bingo games. The goal of Psychology Club is to give students a voice, build leadership skills, and make mental health information accessible in a way that feels relatable and real. Psychology Club creates a space where students can learn, share, and remind each other that support is available. Please enjoy this short video highlighting some of our podcast episodes this season. Welcome back to podcast. Today marks our 100th VIDEO and today's topic is a very sensitive topic that's currently going on. immigration mental health and we have our expert here and she's gonna be telling us about this. >> Hi Gabby. What are some stress students face? >> So this can be a lot of different things. So I want you to just imagine
006like imagine one day you go home and your like hey next week we're packing up our whole life and we're moving to Japan. So part of that could feel like okay like we're in Japan it might feel exciting but a lot of that too is like what does that mean and why are we leaving now and who's coming with us and what do we get to take with us right so there's a lot of different factors so it can be stress of like who gets to come what is life going to look like when you move to a new country language culture do you fashion just kind of so many different things and I think especially for students the way that school operates here in the United States when students are in school what does
007that day look like they >> there's so many different ways it can like I love this activity. It's really simple. I really ways. >> This is said really well and essential oils have a ton of different benefits for mental health and clarity and reduced anxiety. So, I've chosen lavender for relaxation and less anxiety and then peppermint for clarity and focus. So, I think those are really helpful ones. So, what you do is put just a couple drops, maybe two or three, directly onto the pendant, and you'll all see that it soaks in, it holds really well, and then you have a moment of calm throughout the day. Um, if you just need to smell it, it's really helpful. That's perfect. And then I will cut little strings for you and you can keep it on
008your backpack. Some students will make like necklaces or bracelets, but I find having it on your backpack or your bag is a really helpful way to just have access to it. And this is something that a lot of our clubs really really enjoy doing. Okay. >> Good morning. My name is Jerie and welcome to the psychology club podcast. Today we are with Autumn from the Department of Healthcare Services. Welcome Autumn. >> Morning. Thank Thank you so much. Of >> course. Um our first question is what is the what is the children and youth behavioral health initiative or CYBHI? >> Thanks. That's a great place to start. The children and youth behavioral health initiative is um a multi-work stream kind of multi-ep department multi-year effort by the state of California to expand access to behavioral health
009services and supports for children, youth, and families. Um, it's for all California young people ages 0 to 26 and it includes over 20 different programs or activities that are are really meant to uh reshape the mental health and substance use disorder delivery system in California and to make sure that we are investing in the right kinds of supports that so that young people can get the help they need when they need it, where they need it, and from whom they need it. >> My name is Sia. Um, does does someone have to be in a crisis to call or text the 988 number? >> You, each individual can decide what they need. If you need help, if you need someone to talk to, if you're just feeling alone in your room and it um feels
010lonely, you can call the crisis line. That's what the crisis line is there for. And you can do chat, text. Um it doesn't need to be crisis, right? It all it needs to be is I need some help getting through this moment. And that's what we're there for. And um and for us, for the center, and I would say for all the centers that exist, no one is no one is judging your level of crisis any more than they would be judging someone who has a full-blown crisis need and calls in. That's what we're there for. So, you know, if and this goes for whether a person is feel individually you're feeling a crisis or if you know your friend is feeling a crisis and you're feeling really worried about them and don't know what
011to do. That's a crisis call bracelets for all the board members. And we'll leave extras here for any audience members who want them as well. And if there's a little poster back there, if you scan the QR code, you can subscribe to our podcast. Well, thank you very much. Um, I had just a couple questions. If you can go to the podium and answer. Um, and all of you can come up. See you one more time. That was very nice presentation and I appreciate that. I know we had a presentation last year. Um, do you share this information with the high school with the Alhambor High School also or do you just is it just your school? I mean, when you said you did a workshop here, >> our our podcast is public on YouTube
012and I just connected with the wonderful psychology teacher at Alamra. So hopefully we'll be doing some collaborations, but anyone can watch our episodes and learn and subscribe and get get more information. >> That's great. 200 subscribers so far. You have >> 2011. Awesome. Okay. Now, have you shared that with the high school with Alhamra High School so that you can get some more students because I think that was those were great little presentations. So, um, great job. And so, is it helping you guys feel better? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Wonderful. That's great. Any other questions, comments? >> I just want to say that we're really proud of you for coming in and educating us and the work you're doing and how much empathy and leadership you show. Um, and I absolutely loved the podcast. I'm
013going to have to subscribe. You're going to have to figure out how to get me to subscribe. Sit. Send me a link. Do something. Thank you so much for everything you're doing. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you again. Next, we have comments from our student representative, Matthew. Hello. Congratulations to MJHS's Lady Bull Pups who competed in the championship basketball game before winter break, wrapping up an awesome season. The boys season started last week and they look forward to a great season ahead. Thank you to the MJHS leadership class for organizing and hosting winter spirit week. And congratulations to the Bullpup musicians who put on fabulous winter concerts. The auditorium was packed and every bullpup's cha every bullpup's talents shined. On January 13th through 14th, there's going to be class meetings and course requests
014at MJHS. On the 15th, there's a school site council at 3:15. On the 23rd, there's an ELAC meeting at 8:45 a.m. And also on the 23rd, there's the elementary music tour, which I was actually um I participated in that when I was in the middle school. And then on the 26th, there's a counseling visit to fifth grade and the course request uh form. And for Alhhamra on Thursday, January 8th, uh we hosted the AP honors night in the PAB and Alhhamra High School families were able to meet their honors teachers and learn how to be successful in a more rigorous setting. On Friday, January 9th, we held our class meetings in the PAB and students were reminded of expectations from admin. Counselors discussed scheduling, college, and career reviewed A throughG requirements and upcoming workshops. And
015ASB discussed all the amazing events that will be happening in the spring. and ASB announced that this year's prom will be held at the Oakland Rotunda building on Saturday, April 18th. If you guys haven't seen what that is, go look it up. It is such an amazing, beautiful venue. On the 14th, uh there's going to be a Cash for College workshop. Uh also on the 14th, there's a PTSA meeting. And again on the 14th, there's a wrestling dual meet at Alhhamra, which I will be attending. And then uh on the 14th through the 15th, there's the incoming eighth grade sped transition meetings. And on the 15th, there's a slam full day session. Vicente had 12 seniors graduate early in December and they will all be going to DVC. Four Vicente seniors did a great job
016making up all of their credits and were able to return to AHS and graduate with their class. Vicente had four students referred from AHS. Bionis had four seniors who graduated early in December and will be attending DVC. And Bionis added four new students and the program is full with a waiting list. Miss Omali will be meeting with Loaves and Fishes to discuss a 12-week culinary internship program for Vicente and Brion students. At Martinez Adult Education on Tuesday, January 6th, teachers spent the day away from their own lesson plans to become students themselves. During a dedicated professional learning day, teachers engaged in a deep reflection and collaborative growth centered on the six California standards for the teaching profession, CSTP. They shared best practices, analyzed their classroom environments against the CSTP framework, and identified strengths and areas
017of growth as a collaborative group. On Tuesday, January 13th at 6:00 p.m., students will learn about a career about career as a sheet metal worker with local union 104. Sheet metal workers are highly skilled crafts people who perform a wide range of skills such as production, fabrication, installation, detailing, testing, and balancing of sheet metal products in HVAC. This was part of Martinez adult education's monthly apprenticeship speaker series. Now for my personal comments, I've been very busy this uh this past winter break with college applications, mock trial, and robotics club, but I'm very excited to get back into the swing of things in my last semester of high school. And also before I'm done, I want to make a few comments about upcoming budget decisions and issues. When I was elected into the into this position,
018a key tenant of my campaign was that was what we must not cut. I want to make it clear that I stand with all Martinez unified teachers and staff. As someone who's lived here for the last seven years, there is no way that I would be here on this board without the amazing teachers and other staff members that taught me everything I know and who continue to provide essential services for student and adult education. While I understand budget issues are a difficult time for everyone, especially my fellow board members, I want to ensure that we are exploring every recourse in what to cut before we consider cutting staff members. These next few months will be difficult, but I will continue to advocate on behalf of all students that I represent in the Martinez Unified School
019District. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, do we have any U Martinez Education Association employee organizational reports? MEA? >> No. Okay. How about CSEA? No. Okay. comments from PTA. >> Hi there. I'm Jenny Celestri. I'm the president at Lassunes PTA and also for the Martinez Council of PTAs. Um I just want to believe it or not, we're getting ready for elections for the 2627 year. So each of the units at each elementary, the junior high, and the high school sites are going to be sharing uh there's a lot offormational nights to learn more about the roles. Um, so I just want to encourage everyone to seek out that information, learn more, um, and if you can get involved, um, please do. Thanks. >> Thank you very much. Okay. Public comments. The public may address the
020board regarding any item within the jurisdiction of the board of education of Martinez Unified School District. For items on the agenda, the public may comment at the time the board considers the agenda item. For items not on the agenda, the public may comment under public comment. These comments are limited to three minutes each. 20 minutes have been allocated for this portion of the agenda. Additional time is allowed at the end of the meeting if there was not enough time to speak during public comment. To comply with the Brown Act, the board may listen to comments from the speakers, but can neither discuss nor take action on issues presented. Members of the board are very limited in their response to statements or questions by persons commenting on items not on the agenda. So, it looks like
021I have three comment cards. First one is I think that says Lucia Parsons. >> Alicia, thank you. >> Hi. Um my fourth grader COVID home going to school and there was a counselor in the Zooms. It was great. The next year, fifth grade, she created a boys group, requested him. He went through that. It was really wonderful. Get to junior high, he's like, "Mom, I'm having some anger issues and uh I should talk to somebody." So fortunately I have health insurance and I could get him a therapist at Kaiser. Um and it was fine. He did three sessions and was like that was cool. Great. Thank you. That's an emotionally intelligent kid who was able to get there because of counseling at school. Um I really we are dealing with enough in this world. The
022fact that we have to be here tonight to freaking fight for counselors, mental health, mental health right now. Obviously, mine is a little crazy right now because it's freaking insane. And the fact that this is happening got me here and I don't feel well at all. Second, the fact that a youth in the United States of America has to lawyer up to get a special education, to get a free and fair education. the that comments at the beginning. That's insane. That's insanity. Freaking put their families through through lawyering up and the cost to fight so their kid can go to school in America. This is failures all over the place. It's stupid and it's insane and I'm so disappointed. Thanks. Next, we have Vincent Pitzola. Ulo. >> Okay. Good evening. Um I'm Vincent Pulo. I'm
023a teacher at Jamir Elementary School and um I've been on the uh um the DEI committee since this got started here. I was on the uh budget advisory committee and I also serve on the the bargaining team for the teachers union. I'm here to talk about uh MTSS counselors as well. Uh I was very concerned um through the process of the budget advisory committee that that was um it was considered a high priority issue and a lot of people were looking really hard at the counselors and that concerns me for a number of reasons. Uh the most of which they they perform an invaluable service for our community both for teachers, staff and parents. And um you know it's just these these are the people that really pick up the pieces when something goes wrong.
024When a kid melts down and like trashes the room um they're the people who go in and put it back together both literally and also emotionally. and socially. They deal with not just the students that are involved in that, but they deal with all the students that were touched by it. And they do that every single day. It's a really important part of of uh the elementary school. And I can't speak to the middle school or the high school, but I could definitely tell you that their presence would be sorely missed at the elementary level. Um you know, it's it's uh it's not just a number of how many students they serve or on their case load on a day-to-day basis. um the contributions they make to the classroom and to the school culture and
025uh just the overall vibe is immeasurable and it it would really be it would really be sad to lose them and especially in this day and age when you know mental health is really at the the forefront and it's a it's a conversation piece that a lot of people engage in um it it just and and I hate to go there with this but if we're going to have a real honest and open conversation about this we have to we have to bring it up you know when schools make national headlines for all of the right reasons um people will get themselves in in in a tizzy and they they argue about everything, right? Whether or not guns are the problem or if we should arm teachers or if there's going to be um more
026enhanced like, you know, should we fortify our schools more and there's a lot of opinions on that and it goes back and forth and I and I can understand that. But the one thing that everybody seems to agree on is that mental health is a big part of that solution. And you know, heaven forbid something like that should touch our community. And when people ask the question, you know, what has this district done to promote mental health? And our answer is we cut all the mental health counselors. Um I think that's a bad place to a bad place to be. So I would urge you to really really think hard when you're looking at the cuts and everything on that list is crummy. Nobody's going to debate that. Um there are no easy choices on
027there but I think there are some things that need to be taken off the table and the MTSS counselors is a place where I think you'd be able to start. Thank you. Laya Neville. I know I'm butchering your names. I apologize. >> I'm Laya Neville. Um, my daughter goes to John Mir Elementary. And I just wanted to start just a personal story of mine of how important um, counseling has been to my family. And I hope I don't cry because um last year my daughter struggled so much in school and Miss Wendy, our school counselor, um helped her so much through some really tough times and we're still struggling with um you know getting a diagnosis and um working through a lot of um you know a lot of things with that but we have
028insurance we have therapy through Kaiser and guess what it's online we don't have any face-to-face therapy through our insurance and Miss Wendy has real rapport with my daughter at school and um she you know sees the good in her and I think that's that is soant important for every child to have someone see the good in them even when they're struggling. And um she's tough. She is such a tough kid, but she's so full of light. And I just, you know, Miss Wendy, our counselor, has been able to like bring that forward for her in school. And this year, we have seen a market improvement in her behavior. And um you know I'm not scared when the school calls anymore because it's usually like she has some sort of in well there it's more of
029like a physical injury than an emotional one which is for me um it's you know that sounds bad but um she um anyways so she she has had a market improvement and with the help of our school counselor and it's just something that um it's all piece of the puzzle, you know, that we're working together with with um our doctors, we're working together with the school's counselor, with her teacher, with the principal, um our par, you know, our parenting style, like everything. It's all piece of the puzzle. So, I just hope that piece of the puzzle doesn't go away because it is so very important to our family. So, thank you. >> Okay. And I next is the consent calendar. And I know that um does anyone else want to pull anything off the consent
030calendar or No, I'm going to pull Yeah, I'm going to pull um the um where is it? The ratification of contract um cloud electric. I just want to pull that out. Um >> um I had asked I don't know that it has to be pulled, but the K12 um agreement >> tutoring inc. >> Yeah. But I thought I was going to get more information. I don't know if I'd have to pull it or you said that Amy would speak to it. >> Yes, >> we should go ahead and pull it so that um those two items if there are questions then we can respond to the item your item and also uh trustee president's item and then you can vote on them after. Super. Thank you. You're welcome. So, um, can I have a motion
031to approve the consent calendar with the modification of pulling out? >> I make a motion to approve the consent calendar while uh pulling item C and D. >> Second, >> student rep >> I. >> All those in favor? >> I so moved. So, let's talk about um K12 tutoring first. I was just um I couldn't I I didn't have all the information as to what that covers or or you know the scope of what's being done. Um so I was just wanting more information on that particular contract. >> Sure. Um Director Espinosa, can you respond to Trusty Leo's questions? >> Yes. So that contract is specifically for Alhambor High School students who are going to be enrolled in the Spanish 3 class. It's a dual enrollment course that is occurring during the zero period time
032frame and um we were running two sessions of that course. One occurred in the fall and one is occurring in the spring. The students had some struggle um moving from Spanish 2 high school level to a dual enrollment Spanish 3 level and so this was to offer them more support for success. this um is being paid for through the CCAP grant specifically and so um this is just to support those students. >> Thank you for clarifying. I appreciate that. And then I had a question um and probably Andy can answer this um but for cloud electric um you have uh district office boardroom Losontus and John Sweat lighting upgrade and I was just checking to see if John Sweat was through bond money and maybe Losontus as well. I know the district office um would
033not be applicable to that, but I just wanted to find out um why like for John Wat for example, which is 32,000, why that wasn't done when we did the remodel or was it? >> No, there are parts that weren't done. So, we have the music and PE building that did not get retrofitted for lighting and that was part of um discrepancies in the contract because that was an added odd building. That's one of the pods that was left over that stayed in the main campus while the other pods stayed for MEIP. So, we went ahead for all of the MEIP MEIP classrooms and fixed the lighting. This is just something that we had missed. And so, we're getting to it now and part of our summer projects. >> So, it's not part of the
034bond funding. >> We Yes, we'll be able to use bond funding for it, but it didn't happen at the same time as the the rest of the project. >> Perfect. Okay, that was my only question. Um, so can I have a motion to approve those two contracts? >> I'll make a motion to approve the K12 contract and the sorry cloud electric contract. >> Second. >> Student rep. >> I. >> All those in favor? I. So moved. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, let's see. So, we're on to discussion items and I don't see any public comments for that. So, the first one is Alhamra High School Blueprint for Educational Equity MUSD framework. Frank Bey. All right. Let me make sure I got this going here. Okay. All right. Uh, good evening members of the board. Uh,
035Superintendent Patrick and Executive members, uh, it's a pleasure to be here tonight to talk to you about the equity blueprint, um, which is a three-year plan uh that we're operating currently uh, at Alhamra High School. Uh, this being the first year of the plan. And so my hope is uh, to report out on a yearly basis of where we're at uh, in terms of the goals uh, that we're trying to meet and then where we're going uh, over the next couple of years. All right. So, I thought I might give you a little bit of a reminder um that this board uh approved a partnership with Ed Trust West in 2023 uh to address uh some glaring issues uh that we had in terms of our college and career indicators uh and then also our
036connection uh between certain groups within our community. Uh there was a number of surveys put out there uh between with students, staff members, uh caregivers uh and members of the community. And in the summer of 2023 24, Ed Trustrust West uh provided us um a report on where we were at uh and what we needed to address. And so two working groups were created as a result of that report. We had a college and career uh group is the academic group and then climate and culture. So what was the issue? Why what was the concerns? So one of the biggest things of college and career indicators which you can see here, forgiving my glasses a little bit. Um but overall uh we had roughly 43% of our students meeting college and career indicators. Uh in
037significant subgroups we had our Hispanic population uh in the 30s. Um our socio economically disadvantaged in the 30s as well and our special education students uh at zero. Uh and so uh these are students meeting the A throughG requirements uh or meeting uh CT pathways and preparation for a career uh other than a four directly going into a four-year. And so uh this was a major concern for us. And so another thing that came out of this is the surveys uh worked with our community and and talked to our parents and there was a clear disconnect uh between our families particularly in uh our Latinx group uh and our African-American parents uh that they felt like there wasn't a connection to the school. And so as a result of that those surveys um and the
038plan that was created by Edris West um we came up with this vision. Now I won't read through the entire vision and go through it uh word for word but here's the gist. If we're able to address the A throughG um lack of students meeting A through G, we'll be able to raise everybody right. uh and so uh how we go about that was the goals that we set in place. The other piece of it is if we can draw connections with our students and our families, then our we're going to get buying, right? We're going to get parents wanting to participate, students wanting to participate. and we're going to see that there's that connectivity that we all desire because as I've said before in this room and I'll say it again, Alhamra is the
039heartbeat of this community and and so we need that connection to all of our families uh and our community especially in a year like this year where we're celebrating was itund 100 year 15 year >> 150 year I mean come on it's amazing um so we came up with three goals on the academic side so number first goal was informing our students and parents about A throughG and the requirements. And I think we've done a wonderful job. Our counselors have completely revamped uh their presentations to our students, which they just got uh done completing, as I talked about in the class meetings last week. And now we're going into our one-on-one meetings for the next two weeks, which is truly impressive. Uh this is my third school district I've been, and I've never seen counselors
040meet one- on-one with every student to go through their plan. We do that at Alhhamra High School and so our counselors do a wonderful job with that. Um we've created a focus uh on uh A throughG and the biggest change in that is the push for world languages in our graduation requirements. Um we have VAPA world language and CTE as 20 units of graduation for for requirements. Um, and so we're really pushing our students to embrace that not only should they complete one year of a world language, but that second year because now they're in the running. If they want to go to a more uh rigorous uh four-year college like a Berkeley or a UCLA, a Stanford, a Calpaly, uh St. Lucispo, now they need to be talking about three or four years in
041that world language. But the criteria, the the the opening of the door is the two years of a world language. So that's what we're pushing right now in all those one-on-one meetings and our presentations. Uh and one of the things about this plan is that it's something for the board to discuss at a later date. Uh but is is looking at our grad requirements and trying to align them more in line with A throughG something for the future. Uh and so as you can see here uh kind of our outcomes what we've done and I already talked about that um the one thing that we are looking to that we just finished first semester if you see on point four um is that we're going to be utilizing our data from first semester to look
042at see what students are meeting the A throughg requirements uh and if a student is coming up short what we can do to get them back on track uh and so we're specifically looking not only at graduation but at A throughG when we have those that analysis Our second goal was examining grading practices. Now, this is a little bit of a tougher climb. Um, and it's something we will continue to work on throughout the three years of the plan. Uh, and so what we've done is we've set aside time. We have Wednesday PD every Wednesday and we've set aside time to start having these conversations with our staff and our teachers. Uh, and just so you know, I was having a conversation earlier with Miss Ali. I mean, I'm I'm now nine years removed from
043the classroom and this was a hot topic a decade ago. And so, it continues to be something that we're working on. Uh but we have a number of teachers, some teachers have adopted uh the four-point grading scale. Uh other teachers have worked on a 40 F. Other teachers have eliminated C minuses, right? Uh out of their grading equation because if you get a C minus, you're not A through G eligible, right? So, um something sometimes people don't know. So anyways, we have certain individual teachers working on it uh in their classroom and then we're starting to have those discussions as a staff as well. And then finally, our third goal was to line all classes with all all courses with CSU and UC A3G. Done. Accomplished. It was supposed to be year two that this
044happened. It's already happened. Oh, sorry. I know. I like to move around. I'm sorry, Mr. Uh, all right. So, done, already accomplished. Super excited for what my staff has done, uh, what my team, admin team has done to make this happen. Uh, and so I feel really strongly about where we're at right now as a staff in terms of year one on the academic side. And so, we're excited to see that. Uh, the latest data is that from that from those numbers, and this is last year's data, by the way. So overall we've went up to 57% from 44, right? That's a nice jump. Uh and keep in mind that each cohort is different as they move through, right, from year to year. Um but you can see our Latinx 33 to 47, our SED
04534 to 45, and then our our special education students 0 to 24. So uh certainly significant growth and and what's exciting about that is I think that that's attributable to just focusing on it, right? I mean this is the first year actually of the plan. This data is from last year, right? So because we made it a focus because we said this is an issue and we're going to address it. Uh we have already seen exponential growth and now that this we implement this three-year plan uh you know I'm excited to see where this goes, right? Um and so the competitor in me uh has to look at the schools around us and and see where they're at. And so you can see this is our college and career indicator. So we're at 57 right
046now. College Park right in the same spot. Conquer 45. John Sweat at 56 and Benicia's at 71. Okay. And so I look at this like with the growth we've already seen with the plan that we have in place um that we should be knocking on Benicia's door in the near future and surpassing them. And so that's kind of I mean like I said it's competitor to me. Um but uh I'm I'm I'm glad where we're at right now. I think we're showing progress. Um, but I'm I'm really excited for what the future holds. And then the second part of our plan was climate and culture. So I mentioned ear Sorry. So I I mentioned earlier uh that uh we we noticed in significant groups uh particular Latinx and African-American families that there was a disconnect
047with the school. Uh and so um we created uh two goals, right? first of all find out through surveys uh to see what was working and building upon that. So what have we done? Well, we just finished the healthy kid survey uh and Mr. Mali was very helpful uh with that and she just sent out all our data. I'm sure maybe the board has had potentially a chance to look at it. Um and so within that data um in our Wednesday PD meeting this week actually uh we're going to be looking at it uh and identifying uh where we're still coming up short. first of all celebrating the successes of course um but then where we're still kind of coming up short and what what what kind of plan we can create because the um
048the Ed Trust West uh blueprint that was created it was very specific on the academic side but it left the climate and culture side a little bit more vague and so the idea was this year was a year to build the plan uh for that side of things and so this data that we're we received from the California healthy kids survey is really going to be instrumental in us creating the plan and that works already started. We've already had those groups break off and start working on it, but now we have actionable data to look at and really address where the issues lie uh at least this year and moving forward. Uh and so that's exciting. We're also uh tracking uh our student participation utilizing ARIES. Uh, and so if a student is in a
049sport, if a student is in a club, if a student is doing any kind of activity, if they're going to dances, the idea is we'll track all of that to see one how involved our students are, but then also hopefully to identify those students who might not be involved and to get them into things, right? Uh, and maybe it's encouraging to join a club. Uh, because we have a ton of great clubs at Alhhamra. uh maybe it's encouraging them to join a sport because we're always looking for uh people to come on to teams. Uh so there's all these different possibilities. Uh but we we need to find out the data and where the need lies and then um as I said earlier we've allocated our Wednesday professional development time in particular this Wednesday uh
050to review this data. Uh the other piece was to create a multiaceted approach uh to engage and lead the conversation with students. Uh, and I want to say once again the helping good survey. Um, I also want to identify the work that the district has done with the Rainbow Community Center and I think that's been instrumental and actually ties in directly uh with our blueprint. Uh, and so we've been promoting it at Alhambor High School. Uh, our student involvement in those uh, working groups. Uh, and I I'm I'm hoping for that relationship and partnership continues to grow. Uh and I think it's been wonderful that the board uh approved that relationship. Uh and I think hopefully it's one that's going to continue in the years to come. Uh and so uh right now, as I
051said, um we're we've kind of conducted all the surveys now at this point. Uh we have the data uh and now we're developing the plan to address uh these goals. And other than that, on my on the on the attachments, >> you just pick up the microphone and hold it in your hand. >> I know. Right. There we go. Okay. Other than that, um uh on the attachments that I I gave with the presentation, there's two attachments that you should see. One is the blueprint. And so, if you want to take an opportunity to look at the three-year plan, uh I would highly recommend that you do that. Uh but we are committed at Alhamra High School to seeing that to its full implementation. Uh now there will be adjustments along the way of course
052like so for instance we already met uh the one um the A throughg portion of that plan right so now we need to okay great let's celebrate that but now we need to kind of come up with something else too uh and so we'll continue to adjust as we go uh but we're committed to it the other document that I gave you that I'm really excited about as well is we talked a little about A throughG but college and career indicators is not just A throughG it's also CTE pathway completers and so what you s you should see is there's a wheel there of all the different CTE courses we offer. Uh, which is exciting. We're actually expanding our CTE offering and our pathways. Um, but another piece of that is the articulation agreements that
053go along with it. Our goal um that we created for ourselves was that not only will we create pathways and grow our pathways, but we'll also have articulation agreements with DVC if possible, but I've learned that you can't always go through DVC because they don't approve every every class you ask for. Um but you know whatever the partnership be whether it's DBC LMC um we're even working for um sports med Modesto junior college uh that students will get college credit as well as CT pathway completion. Uh and I think that's a really neat thing that we're working towards. Uh so the goal being that every capstone class in our CT pathways will also have college credit to go along with it. Uh and so that's an exciting thing about this whole process as well too.
054Okay, that's it. I should have done this earlier, so thank you for the suggestion. Um, all right. Any questions that the board might have of me? >> So, thank you very much for your very enthusiastic uh presentation. Um, and I'm so glad that you guys have already implemented the A throughG um because I think there were quite a few holes in that and I know people in senior year had to kind of rush out to try and take some classes if they were planning to go to college. So, I'm really excited that you guys have done that. I think that's um awesome. I had um two questions. One, I had a question about your no more C minuses. Um so if they earn a C minus, what are you doing? Are you moving them to
055a D+ or are you moving them to a C? Because I just the math in me, I want to be accurate. So, >> well, well, here's the deal with that, right? It's it's a discussion point. Okay. So, so teachers have control of their grade book and that's their domain. Uh it's just, you know, when we're thinking about it, right? A C minus, yes, it's earned, right? But, you know, it doesn't necessarily benefit them when we're talking about post high school, right? Uh if we're if because my thing is this, yes, if you were going to think about going into a trade or you were going to go to DBC, right, which a little over 40% of our students do go to DL Valley College, right? Uh that C minus doesn't necessarily affect you. But my
056biggest thing, and I think I I talked to the board about this before, I certainly when I interviewed is choice, right? I want students to have choice when they walk across the stage on Nlesfield. And and so whether that's them going to an A throughg, whether that's going to a two-year institution, whether that's going directly into a trade, we don't want to like limit them in terms of what their options are. And so to me, a C minus limits options, right? Uh particularly in our core classes. So, um it's a discussion point, but it's one that's going to be ongoing as I mentioned earlier. uh it's not something that we will solve or you know who knows what the the end of the outcome will be. As I said it's been something that's been going
057on for well over a decade the discussion. Um but I hope we get to a point that we are more equitable in our grading practices in general. That that is the goal. >> I appreciate that. That's important. Great. Um and then I had another question and this is um just me being silly but um you had a slide that was talking about the latest data. It was 2425 and I apologize my computer's not working so I don't have it with me. But um if you can bring it back to the screen again, Joe, do you mind? Um it was um you put for Hispanic that they went up Oh, that's the one. Yep. You put the um they went up from 33% to 47%. But then um you put decline 4% and I just want
058to know what that is. >> Not a problem. So that was the original data from uh I think they pulled from 22 23 uh when they did the original report. So there was a year in between there. Okay. But this is the latest data that we have. So from that original report we had this leap. It's a couple years to this point uh versus Yeah, there's a gap year in there. >> Perfect. Okay. Thank you very much. That's good job. Okay. Those are my questions. other board members, >> I just want to thank you for coming um for the presentation, but also just all of the awesome work that you're doing at Alhamra High School. a couple like I think three or four years ago this board approved this equity audit and then the blueprint
059and to see it actually coming to fruition and being from my view highly successful is really um amazing and gratifying and I think it's something that everybody in this district can be proud of but especially you and your staff. Um so I just want to say thank you recognizing that there's still work to be done. It's just um really nice to get, you know, we we sit in here and hear a lot of bad news all the time and I think this is great news. So, thank you. >> Thank you very much. And, you know, I'm a newbie to this, right? I think this is the fifth or sixth month that I've been here. Uh but it truly is some of our staff members are here. It's the staff and all their efforts that they
060put into this. And so, I'm just a a steward of it. But, but thank you. >> I just have a quick question. First of all, very inspiring to see this kind of um positive progress. Um I'm wondering how many kids are um in extracurricular. Do you have the you said you were collecting all that data and I'm wondering because I've been to so many things at Al Hammer and I see so many kids involved. What percentage do we have? >> That's a great question and I I I can certainly have that for the board probably next month. So, we're still in the process of inputting everything. Um I asked from our wonderful athletic director, Mr. tolah our rosters uh and so we have to upload all that into Aries uh the same thing I asked
061of Miss Griffin uh for participation in clubs and so we're in the process of gathering that and then uploading it into Aries um but I can tell you this uh in the spring we will have that data >> that would be great to hear and I love that you're going about trying to reach out to kids that aren't in extracurricular kinds of involvement and and get them involved I think that's a great great strategy so >> thank you >> I was just going to add on to what um Courtney was saying. I really liked how you framed that this isn't this didn't just happen. This was you know we did the work of the blueprint and then you made goals and this was a targeted focus and these results are because of that targeted effort.
062And so I think that's something to keep in mind is we look at data a lot in this room and sometimes it is really depressing and sometimes progress feels slow. And so I think when we look at there's two goals here and it was really focused and then you see massive gains. I think that's actually really inspiring and something to keep in mind for us that when we really really target our approach and when we identify the greatest areas of need, it is possible to see a lot of really great things happen. So I think it's amazing and I really just appreciated the way that you phrased that. So I want to highlight that and thank you. >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you very much. I think. Oh, Matthew. >> Yeah, I just wanted
063to say thank you for the presentation. I had no idea that the progress we had made was like that extreme. You know, 13% of kids in a school with a graduating class of like 250 some is like 30 kids. So, you know, that's really a big deal. And also, I just wanted to say like I'd want to thank like all the Alhambor High School like um counselors and of course you Mr. Brey and everyone who's been helping meet these goals. I mean, uh, I've, you know, as a student, I've done the one-on-one meetings with counselors. Um, and it's just really helpful because they'll they'll walk you through like everything you need to graduate, what you need to meet your A throughG, what you need to, you know, meet your CSU. And, uh, yeah, I just
064think that's the counseling department at our school is like one of the like the the departments that really help students like tangibly the most. like no other department really has such an impact on students in a way where it's like you're going to graduate because we helped you plan your classes, you know what I mean? So, I just wanted to say thank you. Um, yeah, >> thank you. >> I'll just have one other thing. I want to also congratulate Amy as well. I know last I think it was last year you invited me to CTE at the high school. So, it's exciting to see how this is progressing and building up. So, thank you all. >> Thank you. >> I think that's it. Thank you very much. >> All right. >> Great presentation. >> Thank
065you. Next we have uh review of CSBA updates. Dr. Patrick. >> Yes. Um good evening trustees uh community and staff. Um I'm going to review go through the first read for some board policies and administrative rigs. And it is quite extensive tonight. As you can see there's many of them. So I'm just going to ask for your patience as I try to provide a summary. um that is clear and concise um but also in informative as we move forward. Okay. So for uh board policy 1000 concepts and roles um so this policy uh consists of updated language is made it much more um explicit regarding the role of the board and um the board policy and administrative regs 1114 um for um district sponsored social media. Um it basically it um has some new updated
066language around the responsibility of the principal to assign um so social media accounts the district has to identify at each site someone that's directly responsible. That may have been something that was already in place. It just really says yes, it should be happening. So we'll have to make sure that it is happening. Um for um board policy 2120 which is around the superintendent recruitment and selection um it is just updating um some language around that. Um and we um it's just basically making it more current with practice that are things that the district is already doing but it just it's just change language change. So not change in the process of what the district does but just updated language. Most of these changes you will find that it's just updated language. But I'll I'll go
067into some specifics if something is is um requires it for um 304 just one second which is debt issuance and management and that is also um excuse me let me make sure I'm reading from the same so this is um the process of short-term borrowing if the district cannot meet its financial obligations. So, it clarifies the process as well as um requires a formal resolution before selling any bonds and includes additional detail on reporting of any bond sale to California debt or um and investment advisory commission. So just really clarifying the policy on how do how actions um what actions have to take place when it's required. So it's just clarifying and updating language as well as for um item number board policy 4000 which is concepts and roles. Um there's no changes changes to
068the laws there. its uh regulations and guidance, but C CSBA has reviewed and amended the policy to clarify that its academic achievement, personal growth and well-being of district students and the success of district programs. It hinges on district personnel and that the policy is also amended to reflect guidance to support leaders in developing labor management partnerships that benefit students, staff, and the um school community. The next one is in the 5000s which is focused on students. So there's a board policy 5,000 concepts and roles and there are no changes in the policy itself just updated language but still the same policy. So the language is is being updated as well as for board policy and administrative regs 5020 for parents rights and responsibilities. Um, this is the new policy that aligns to the Mimmude versus
069Taylor language, which addresses the new law that states the the district must notify parents and guardians that they have a right to opt out of certain um instructions. We already have something in place. As you know, there was policy that was brought forth forth earlier this year. This aligns to that. Um and students whom the district have approved to be opt out will be offered a similar activity with the same educational value. So it's just aligning the district's responsibility for uh notification. It's also now talking about how that impacts students. Um, and we also, um, have to make sure that anyone who speaks another language other than English is notified of their rights to opt out in their home language. For board policy and a administrative reg17, this is intradist attendance. Um we went with
070um option one which basically includes a an agreement between um two districts. So the two districts have to agree for students to move from from district to district as well as um the administrative regs for which is intradist attendance. Our current B board policy states that students in an intrad district transfer from another district can be bumped if the facilities are overcrowded and it is within 30 days. The new language does not allow for bumping. So once a student is on an intradist transfer and is enrolled in the site, they can't be bumped for that year. So they'd have they'd have rights to remain at the school site. And then board policy 5138 which is conflict resolution peer mediation. Um and it's just only language changes policy is remaining the same just updated language. Okay.
071Almost halfway there. Bear with me. All right. And then for um 6,000s which is instruction which is board policy administrative rigs 6020 parental involvement and that is let me go to okay and for 6020 parental involvement of The policy is updated uh for the uh re reference of uh June 2025. It actually is updated to align to the dear colleague letter that was sent out last year um which explain provides guidance and states how federal funds can be used as well as the administrative rigs um focuses on parental involvement and it is updated to align with CDE's federal monitoring um board policy 61 143 is the course of study. So under the new law SB which was established in 2024, it prohibited discrimination and the new court decision Mahmood versus Taylor uh provides the ability
072for students to opt out on the grounds of um substantial inferences with religious um development. Okay. Um, for board policy, I'm sorry, for administrative regs 6143, which is course of study. Um, there's a new law for treatment of Native Americans, new law for financial literacy, new law for fintel use, new law for partnership with with college guidance initiative, which is the CCGI. There's new law for FASA and new law for California kids investment and development savings program. So all of that is quantified in the administrative regs for 6143. Um the next one is board policy and administrative regs for 6146.2 2, which is the certificate of proficiency and high school equivalency. Um, so six uh 146.2 is no longer required. It's so it's being removed. It it's obsolete. So that's coming out. And um there
073is the name of the change for administrative rigs of the exam um and exhibit 6146.2 name change of the exam. So the board policy will reflect the updated the new name um for 7,000s which is facilities. Let's see. Just one second. I'm all organized here, but there my notes are in different places. So, for facilities in the 7,000s, we have updated language. For board policy 7,000, updated language to the original policy, but does not change the policy. The revision includes the option to consider using district property for workforce housing. So that is now in board policy. And for board policy 7131, which is relations with local agencies. This policy outlines how the board and the district staff must collaborate with neighboring cities and counties and planning bodies when planning, designing, constructing, or financing school facilities.
074And let's see, board policy 9,000 right here. Nine board policy 9310 which is um basically all were accepted. The policies just are updated language which reflects the um mandates of the law. um and all just brought up to speed with updated language um specifically around um information on how board policies are written and um implemented. So just just updating that and then of course um for close session it's just updated language on descriptions of the board chair the president as well as it talks about who can attend what items can be discussed um um and who is included in those discussions. Okay. And as well as there is a confidentiality clause which um is centered around protecting students and staff identity. Um and no um no information will be given to identify victims of sexual
075abuse, child abuse. Um and none of those uh individuals would be named in public. So that's just protecting what's already there. Um as well as um when there are specific complaints or charges um there's updated language on um how that information is included in the in agendas for the board meetings as well as um there's updated language in close session discussions for negotiations. um as well as um specific updated language around student matters that are discussed in close session. Um there's language about the appeals process and um it author also authorizes the board to do restorative justice for um students if it's um recommended to address a student issue. the board can decide that the student needs some restorative justice. So, it talks about that and also again just making sure that the security matters
076um are listed and it's all new like updated language around this particular policy. And I believe I'm down to the very last which is um board policy 5030 on student wellness and almost there. We can move on. See, and that is board policy 5030, which um basically speaks to the cell phone new cell phone policy that has to be implemented as of July 1. And um there's some specific language that the board um will have in its policies and that is for TK through 8 schools, students must have their phones away for the entire day. This includes lunch, break, passing periods, and recess. For 9 through 12th grade students, they must have their phones away during classes, but are permitted to use them during breaks, lunch, and passing periods as long as they are used
077appropriately. And let's see, we have one more. One second. All right. And the final one is 51 board policy 5138 which is um conflict resolution slash slashper u mediation and that is only language changes. The policy remains the same. And this concludes my report on board policy unless there are any questions. Thank you. Do you have any questions? I just want to make one comment. Um the K through eight where you say away all day. Um I know the exception is if they need it for medical. So if they have like a monitor on them and they they use the phone for monitoring. So um um I'll have to verify that, but I'm sure you're correct. I'm sure that would be um articulated in that part of the policy. So, go back and take a
078look >> just in case they need it for, you know, if they have, I don't know, um blood sugar, diabetes, things like that. Sometimes >> I was I was actually looking through those. Yeah. Um, and it says that in the case of emer of an emergency or when the teacher grants permission to the student um like if they're doing like a lesson that needs their phone or something and then when a licensed physician or surgeon says that it's necessary or um when it's uh required by the students in individualized education program, >> right? Yeah. I just want to make sure that the public also knew that >> that we can still >> Thank you. >> But thank you, Matthew. I appreciate. Now I know you read the board packet in detailed. Good job. >> All
079right. Any other questions about that or anything? No. Okay. >> Um so next is the uh some >> um so yeah. So um we normally do public comment and so yeah if you don't fill it up there then I don't usually ask but um yes. So, we have um that's why I said, you know, we were into the information. Do we have any public comments? We didn't have any, but um go ahead and >> I apologize. It was buried in there. I didn't see it. So, under 4,000. Sorry. I'm Jen Fennel. I am a teacher at Alhamra High School. I also have uh two students in the district and I'm also on the bargaining team. Uh in BP 4000 there there was a line that was removed that says uh specifically about adopting the contract.
080Uh there is something in there that's a little bit more broad in terms of language talking about um that they will take that action will be taken on. Sorry, can you scroll down a little bit, Joe, I apologize. Um right there. So where it says that um and maintain communications with the negotiating team during the bargaining process and adopt the negotiated contract um adopting the negotiated contract contract was uh removed. There is somewhere later on, I believe it might be on page two that says um that or maybe it was somewhere else. I apologize, but that does say uh can you scroll up where it says take action on any tentative agreement? >> Yeah, I see it. Uh so where it says uh and take action on any tentative agreement. uh that's a little bit
081more broad than and adopt the negotiated contract. I'm not asking a question. I am merely pointing out that that does seem to change uh the language there so that it is no longer saying that the contract would be adopted but rather that they would that there would be action taken on that and that's a little bit broad. So that is my comment. Thank you. >> And don't forget to fill out a >> Thank you very much. Okay. Okay, next we have symphonic orchestra course proposal MUSD framework for teacher focused teaching and learning Amy Espinosa. >> Good evening board members and superintendent Patrick. Tonight I'm here to bring forward a capstone course for Alhambor High School. So for our um this goes right along with uh Mr. Bey's presentation this evening as well. So on November
0825th, the curriculum advisory council heard a course proposal for symphonic orchestra um by Sarah Stafford and this would be this would add an additional course to Alhhamra High School's um course catalog. It will be A throughG approved and a college prep course. It is VAPA as well as CTE and it would begin in the 2627 school year. I'd also like to make note that to fund this course we would be using Prop 28 funds or CIG grant money which is specifically for CTE courses and so that it so you know where the funding is coming from. Um, the curriculum advisory council didn't have any questions. They were super excited. Is my time up, Joe? What? I don't feel like I had three minutes. And so, uh, Curriculum Advisory Council had no questions. They were excited
083to be able to offer this additional course to our students for the coming school years. I will take any questions if you have any. And I know Sarah's in the audience as well as well as um Frank. >> Thank you very much for that. Um and I appreciate you're telling us where the funding is coming from. That's very good. Um so I did have um I wanted to know more about the class detail and I understand this is one that you have to um audition for. So the class detail if you open the link there you'll see that this would be for advanced playing and it would be open to our 10th through 12th grade students only. And then you'll see here the course description which was outlined um by Mrs. Stafford. And so this
084is a skill this would require a specific skill base to go into the class. and she would likely know their skill already since they would have taken one of they would have taken the first course in ninth grade. >> And so we're going to continue to have orchestra though the basic class as well. This is just an additional class. >> This is the capstone to that class. Okay. >> And to make it a CTE pathway. >> And how many years do you have to take this to complete the CTE? Is it two years? >> Take the first course whether it be orchestra, band or jazz and then the second course which would be this one. So it' be two years total. >> Okay. And this so this is a combination of jazz, band, and orchestra
085in the class. Okay. No, I'm excited about this because I think that will make us we've got so many students um coming from the junior high to the high school that I think this is something we very much needed and I'm very excited about it. So I was thrilled when I saw this on the agenda. Um any other questions, comments? >> Uh I mean Sarah, would you like to add anything? I I got to attend it in the curriculum advisory committee. So >> yeah, >> is it already on? >> Um it would be so it's called symphonic orchestra because you have your string instruments, violin, viola, cello, bass, traditional orchestra instruments, but you also add um all your woodwinds, your brass, and your percussion. So it could be students that they have to have taken
086one year at least of one of the other classes, be it concert band, marching band, um jazz band, orchestra. I have kids that are in multiple classes and I have kids that are very excited about being now in three classes next year, three music classes as seniors. Like they are slamming their schedule with music. Um, and it's just Frank came to me, Mr. Bey came to me asking to create this capstone course because I do have my CTE credential or even just to be able to offer this to students. doesn't mean necessarily that I would be teaching it to someone in the CTE program that with the arts media and entertainment CD CTE credential that I have offering this to students to expand like we were talking about with Ed Trust West expand our offerings
087in our pathways. >> I have a question also um currently you don't have any obo players. I do have one kid that did obo on two pieces, so he can he's also an alto saxs player. I do have a bassoon player now as well. >> I noticed that at the concert. Yeah, I was very impressed by that. So, if someone comes from another school and transfers over and they have done obo, they can still be in that if they wanted to. >> They would just have to have had some kind of what at least one year of high school instrumental music before being in this class. It's supposed to be an more advanced, >> right? Okay, perfect. Thank you. Any other questions? Uh, I had a couple. So, is this This is for 2728 school
088year. >> 26 27. We're actually accepting signups right now. Yeah. >> Okay, that's great. I was just wondering about that. >> Yeah. Sorry, you're a senior. I know. >> And then I was also wondering, so this is like a capstone course, right? So, does that mean that every kid that's in orchestra the first year is going to take this the second year or >> not necessarily. Some students may not be interested in doing this and that's totally fine. They may not want to create finish their pathway in music. Maybe they have other pathways. Maybe that's not even their interest at all. Maybe they're really just a jazz kid only. And that's totally fine. Um is just giving this opportunity and and also kind of expanding what we can do musically. >> I really like that.
089Yeah, >> I know. And I'm I'm hoping I'm not sure what our instrumentation will be and maybe it'll be really funky that first year or two and that's okay, too. So maybe it's small ensembles, maybe it's quintets, quartets, octets, whatever. And maybe there's other, it's just that extra level too, extra level of musicianship. Maybe they're writing their own pieces. Um, getting into the theory a little bit deeper, just offering more to the kids. >> I really like that because I feel like a really big part of the music program is like choice. Like I mean you already have three classes that you can do and adding this extra one is great because not only do you get to pick what you want to do instrument obviously but then you can choose if you've done your
090year to move on and then you have this really great like symphonic >> because I think something that I found often as someone who did band and orchestra um was that like there's like limitations on only band instruments only or instruments and you have both all of that together and it can sound really cool. So I just really think this is so great >> and and to also piggyback on what Mr. said, "College Park offers something like this and you know we we got to be better." So, and I love that music department, but it's just it's offering more for our kids. >> Thank you. >> Do we need to compete against Benicia on that? >> Well, I know them too as well. They're they're great people. It's awesome. Music is just that that amazing,
091fantastic, creative place. So, but we do compete a little bit. It's okay. >> Okay. Well, thank you very much again and we're excited to have that next year. Okay, next we have MUSD solar tariff optimization analysis. Andy Cannon. Uh good evening. Uh I won't be going into great detail with the presentation. Um but it is provided for you and and Joe's got it up on the screen. Uh, but this presentation was brought to us by a partner of ours, a vendor, because we went out and asked, we wanted to see what was going on with our solar knowing that we had a few sites that were down. So, I'll talk about what those sites are eventually, but what we found in the process of saying, you know, what can we do about sites solar that
092are down? We determined that we're doing really well with solar. And so, it's been a while. Well, I don't in my time we haven't brought a report to the board to talk about what the savings are for solar um but we are doing so tonight. Uh so for let you know there are actually um nine sites um which include the dol vicente lower campus all of the school sites that have solar um we started this back in 2013 and we have when you see solar PV size um stay there for a second um at any one point in time we have the capacity of generating 1 336 kilowatt. So that's a good amount. And then we look when we began the service we thought we would get almost 1.9 million kilowatts. Uh so quite a
093bit um and understanding that we may see a.5% so less than 1% degradation. So that's the aging of the system and what it produces over time. Um we started with um Solar City. Solar City was bought out by Tesla. Um we had the building of John Mir's new school. When we did that, we lost the performance guarantee with Tesla and we signed up for another company called Sunlight and Power. Um, so with Sunlight and Power with John Mir, we only had a five-year performance guarantee. With Tesla, um, we had significantly more. Go ahead and go to the next slide. Um, so when we had the company looking to say what exactly is going on with our solar, we asked them to do a report on a year-to-ate basis. So they chose October to September of
0942024 to 2025. What they gave us is we produced about 1.7 million kilowatts and we were supposed to after degradation in our whatever year it is right now we were scheduled to produce about 1.75. So we are hitting that 95% threshold of that val of those kilowatt hours 70% was based on 70% of our energy consumption was from our solar and 31% was from taking stuff off the grid. So for those of you who have solar at your house or know someone with with it with it, this is something that you look at all the time. How much do I get from my own creation and what do I have to pay PG& for? When we look at the net value of the service, we are saving annually about $567,000 a year. So that's a
095great investment of dollars that were used from Prop 39 years ago and other investments by the district as many districts did um to be able to bring this in. And so it's continuing to generate revenue. That is especially important in light of what our current budget situation is. If we were to have to pay the full PG& bill, we would struggle to provide all of the programming that we do, let alone presumptive reductions that we'll be reviewing in the next couple of weeks. So, I think it's important to highlight that the district continues through past programs, current programs, and we'll look in future programs to be able to optimize um public dollars as much as possible. So, how does that relate to dollar amounts? That 69% that we are getting from our own solar usage
096is that $567,000. We pay in the neighborhood of $16,000 for contracted services. This is so Tesla and Sunlight Power can manage and maintain our systems. And that means that we're paying PG about $410,000 in this one time period. Now, mind you, if we chose a different date range, it'll be up or down. So this is just between October of 24 and September of 2025. And we see that percentage again here. So what does it look like during the time period? And many of you may go on to your PG& account and you'll check from any time energy usage tools. I know I do with my solar system at home because I want to see how we're doing. Um I want to make sure I'm not having a huge true up. My true up is in
097April. So, I'm really looking carefully at like what we do for the spring months. Something similar is done for commercial operations. And this shows that throughout the year what our uh energy generation is and you mostly know is during the the spring and the summer months you get the most sunlight. So, you get the most generation. Less clouds. California is great for blue skies and lots of sun and so we benefit greatly from it. Now when we look at the individual sites, you're going to notice that we have a few sites that have been offline. Um so Mela Park, John Sweat, and also Lois have been offline for periods of time. Um so Tesla, we have a contract with Tesla to be able to do a performance guarantee. They're supposed to fix our stuff when
098it breaks. They have not been fixing these sites. And so they've gotten to the point where they aren't generating or causing issues and they lock it out. The concern was and we brought to this to board about wanting to get a contract with a company kind of help us with this process. We wanted to review whether Tesla was meeting its contractual obligations, verify that we were getting all the performance guarantee money that we're supposed to do and look for any other optimization that might be out there, including the possibility of selling energy credits. So, as we went through this process, the company determined that Tesla was within its contractual obligations even though they haven't fixed our stuff. We could as a district choose to move away from that contract, but the contract is such a
099favorable contract in terms of performance guarantee that it makes sense for us even though that we're losing on um productivity right now, we will gain some of that back in that performance guarantee. So every five years if we do not meet the set quot um quotas of energy and we may not because of the elementary schools being there we get actually a cash dispersement from Tesla. Uh I believe it was two years ago our trueup was I think $180,000 from Tesla. So we got that cash directly into our local income investment. Our next true up is in 2028. And so at that time, we'll look at these things and get money back. If we were to end the contract with Tesla and and sue them essentially, we probably wouldn't win and we would lose that
100performance guarantee. So even though it's not favorable for us and we can't compel Tesla to fix it any faster, this is where we are right now. The for lack of a better term, the word on the street was Tesla was suing the manufacturer because of defects. they won a lawsuit and now they're able to start working on fixing these and so we're hopeful we're in line. Um, full disclosure, the the the folks at Tesla that we try to communicate with are really awful at communicating back. Um, to the point that we actually are still working on having legal counsel um, give a letter to Tesla to help push that along saying, "Please prioritize this as a fix as something that is required under our contract." and we'll give a report back when we get some
101feedback on that. Think is there anything left there? So, uh, one thing that we have to be cautious about and I need to find out more information is that we want to make sure we stay on the best tariff rate. Right now, we're on tariff rate B6, which has less um, cost rises for peak demand. B10, if we move to that, we're we we only get this grandfather great for a certain amount of time. We may see that our energy cost go up and so we'll kind of work with the company on how do we maintain this. It may be nothing we can do about it. It may just be simply about the matter of usage. If we had the other school sites getting usage and not locked out, we may be able to extend
102that tariff rate, but again, that's nothing we can control at this point in time. So, we'll be digging into more information on how to maintain the best rates possible and eventually look at selling energy credits when that market changes in such a way that it's lucrative for the district. So, going forward, um we've already done many of these. Um we are going to um work with our legal council and try to prioritize our elementary schools that are down um and draft the letter. That's kind of where we stand with this. Uh but not to bury the lead, we are very successful in getting energy savings of the tune of almost $600,000. So I think that's the the real story here. Despite our significant troubles with um Tesla, we are doing a good job with energy
103production and it's helping our budget. And with that, I'm open to any questions you may have. So, um, can you speak to what the bulk of the for I think it was 14,000 is that annually for service? >> Yeah, that's maintenance. So, they would come in and clean um the solar panels and they would make sure any debris, weeds or things underneath it are taken care of and replace any of the panels that go bad. Okay, that that answered my second question because I have solar myself and like I time it in like right in April to have those suckers cleaned so I get the most use out of it. So, I'm I'm glad to see that they're doing that. >> I would say thank you. That's a great presentation and it's good to hear
104that we're saving that money. I think that's um that's awesome. Did you have something you wanted to say? No, I was just confused because we're paying money for them to maintain the system, but then they're not maintaining the system, but we're still paying them money to maintain the system. So, >> welcome to my frustration. >> Yeah, I'm confused. So, you're following up on it legally with with legal counsel, and that's where we are right now. >> Yes. >> And we're still paying them even though they're not meeting their obligations. If we stopped paying them, we risk losing the performance guarantee because we would be in violation of the contract. The contract >> they're in violation. >> Yes. Because there's a there's the gray area of when do they have to fix a problem and it
105leads to they kind of do have to fix a problem, but as long as they're providing the performance guarantee, it's a better deal for the district. So, it's >> I get that. I'm just it's frustrating I think because then we might lose in other areas because we're not generating. >> Those were my very sentiments to our legal council and this group and at that point I said thank you vendor for your time. I think we've exhausted everything we can do here and then we stopped the contract short of full term with this vendor who did the evaluation because there was no more that they could provide to us. >> Okay. Well, I appreciate all your work and staying on top of it. I agree. It has been very frustrating. >> Thank you. >> So, I
106just want to say in the future, make sure you use your microphones when you guys chitchat >> on there. Thank you. But um back to Andy. Thank you for the presentation. I think that was very informative and it sounds like we um still want to stay with them because we're getting the money back and that is very lucrative right now still. So, um when do you think um when is the contract up? You said it was 10 years originally. So when does that >> So we I think it's 25 years and we go until 2038. >> Okay. So still a long time. Okay. >> Yeah. So we have 28, 33 and 38 are our performance guarantee trueups. >> Okay. Great. Good to know. Okay. Other questions, comments? >> Okay. Thank you very much. All right.
107Next we have action items. And just a reminder, if you have um if you want to make public comments, if you want to fill out the form and drop them in the basket, we won't get them. Um first, if we have anybody, we don't have anybody right now, right? Okay. Uh first, we have Andy up again for approval of the 2425 annual financial audit report. >> I think I get the rest of them um tonight, it looks like. Um so, our annual audit is done by an independent audit firm, um Christy White. And so, the document you have here is our audit. It was delayed this year. The delay was caused by the government shutdown. So when the federal government shut down, some of their audit guidelines and rules and other procedures that needed to
108be followed by auditor could not be done until those were officially published. Um so we like um all the other school districts in our county and probably across the state um put in for waivers. Those waivers allowed us to extend the date and so that's why we were looking at it now towards the middle of January instead of December. Um so this audit is a clean audit for us. We've passed all findings. Um there is a note of a finding from the previous um year which we talked about on this board which was about changing and moving money from our savings account leif into our district accounts for bond construction. That was cleared up but it is still in this document. Overall though there are no findings and we passed our audit. Um, so if
109it is the board's will, we're asking for them to approve the 2024 annual financial audit report for the school district. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, any questions, comments? >> No. Okay. Do we have a motion? >> Make a motion to approve the audit. >> I'll second it. Student rep. >> I. >> All those in favor? >> I. So moved. And as you said, Andy, you're up again for approval of the annual developer fee report and resolution number 2026-08. Um, it was such a glorious winter break that I had to remind myself that this presentation was already given. Um, but we did have a presentation on developer fees. It's provided for you again in this document. What we are requesting tonight is for you to approve resolution 20268. um the developer fee annual report as it
110was already provided in detail report in December. Um and tonight again just asking for your approval. >> Thank you. Questions? >> Um this is on 15.3. 15.3. Yeah. Next one. >> Any questions, comments? >> Can I have a motion? Make a motion to approve resolution number 2026-08. >> Second. >> Student rep. >> I. >> All those in favor? >> I. So moved. >> Okay. We have Melo Park Elementary cafeteria tables. Andy Cannon. >> Uh when the school district went about modernizing uh Morella Park Elementary, we did not have all of the cafeteria tables listed as items to be replaced. We did because we expanded the eating area and took out the old kitchen. We had to put in a couple of tables and we so we purchased those. Um part of what we've learned is
111the new tables are way better than the old tables and we're starting to see the increased wear and tear on those old tables and it's we do not want it to become a safety issue where pulling those tables slam too fast or fingers get pinched. Um we do have enough funding left over and measure are so we put those two together. a need that's coming soon and funding left over from Measure R, which was authorized by the citizens of Martinez for these modernization projects. And so we decided this is the time now to go ahead and order these new tables, get all of them replaced. When I say tables, I mean the tables and the benches, but we are not um redoing the frames where they close into the frames. when we had the vendor
112come out and look at it said they were perfectly fine and suitable to be reused, but the tables and benches themselves need to be replaced. So, we will match the same um generally speaking um uh design and laminate top. Um but we are looking for board approval to move forward with this project. >> Uh we have one public comment. Todd Navaro, >> I have no issue with the tables. I just have a question with how the agenda is structured. So earlier um in the consent calendar there was a project for the lighting. I'm trying to understand what puts and I'm sure there's a logical explanation. So if you want to call me tomorrow you can why we've got one spend item sitting in a consent calendar and another one sitting as an action item on
113the agenda. >> I can speak specifically to this item. It's over $50,000. So we have it in this category. Um the other item on the consent calendar was actually three projects that we lumped in together. So no one um of those projects is in excess of the $50,000 threshold that I have the ability to sign with ratification versus prior approval. >> Thank you very much. Does that clarify? Got it. Okay. Thank you. Um question or comments on the Mela Park cafeteria tables? Anybody? I'm not a taxpayer, so uh I'm obviously not an expert on this. The Measure R funding is like that happens every year, right? Because it's like a yearly like tax. That's >> No, Measure R was a one-time bond fund that went out um and approved $120 million worth of funds for
114construction projects and we're nearing the completion of that. >> Okay, great. So, we basically like spent it all on what we said we're going to spend it on. We have extra. Is this like most of the extra? No, there's still extra extra. >> Okay, great. Okay, that was my >> and the other extra extra will go towards the Mela Park TK project. So, we will conclude all of that with the staffing and um the other projects that are there and then we should the goal is by the end of June to have that at a zero mark. Okay, wonderful. Thanks. >> Okay, do I have a motion? >> Sure. I will move to approve. I will say, who knew that these were so expensive? Wow. Um, but yes, I will move to approve these tables
115from Morela Park. >> I'll second it. Student rep >> I. >> All those in favor? >> I. So moved. Okay, with that, we're going to reports and superintendent's report. >> Uh, yes. My report was principal Bey's report. So you can move on without me this time. >> Thank you very much. Um board reports, do you want to start us, Courtney? >> Yeah, I don't have anything. Um just I hope everybody had a good first week back first week back of the semester and um we have a lot of tough decisions coming up and um we'll be listening and thinking and be back here in two weeks. That's all I have. I just want to say that I attended music performances at every level from kindergarten all the way up to high school um in December.
116And just what stood out to me was the clear growth in our students as they um move through our schools and our programs. And I wanted to thank our music teachers and staff for the work they do every day and our families for um supporting their students. Um it it was really a joyous December for me. Thank you. >> New report. >> So, this is a big week for MEF. We'll be doing our grant process this Thursday. And as I think a lot of folks know, this was a pretty banner fundraising year for MEF through our run week. So, we're looking forward to, you know, not replacing what has to happen with the budget cuts certainly, but supporting classroom needs as much as possible. So looking forward to that. And then MEF readathon, the third
117annual readathon will be in March. And so I'll have more information with that um in weeks to come. And also wanted to say I attended the um some of the performances and they were spectacular as usual and I hope everyone had a relaxing nice holiday. And I can't believe we're already in January. It seems like the year is flying by. Um so yeah. Um, hope everybody had a good first week of school. And with that, I think we will adjourn at 8:36 am.